Marty's Graduation
by Radioactive Nerd
Summary: Season 3 episode 12. When Doc misses an important event, his friendship with Marty gets rocky.


**Author's Note: Sorry for the wait but I've been super busy with school. You know it's kind of funny because Marty is graduating while I'm starting a new year. Anyways, this is the last episode of season three. Marty is graduating from junior college NOT high school. I don't want people to misinterrpret that from the title. Please review.**

**Disclaimer: HEY YOU GUYS! I don't own the three BTTF films or the animated series. I also don't own that exclamation either… it's from _The Goonies_.**

Hill Valley, California

August 21, 1992

5:34 PM

"Then dad and me saw the pirates heading for us so we bolted back to the future," Verne finished as he shoveled down his food. "We had a lot of fun, right dad?"

"Correct offspring," Doc said with a smile. Today he and Verne had taken the train back in time to the 1600's to sail with real-life pirates. Jules had declined the invitation to go because he had to work on his mold spores (despite Clara's insistence that he discontinue that experiment.) It had been fun to have some father-son time with Verne. Doc had almost forgotten how "cool" his youngest son was.

"Eat your peas honey," Clara said to Verne when she saw he was eating everything but them.

"Okay but don't call me honey," Verne said.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and before any of the Browns could get up, Marty burst into the kitchen. He had lost total control of the hoverboard and zoomed around the kitchen. Marty accidently did a loop de loop before flipping onto his back right next to the table.

"Marty what an entrance!" Doc said as he got up to help the teen. "Usually I'm the one that has the uncordinated moments."

"Are you all right?" Clara asked nervously.

Marty signaled for her to wait a second as he tried to remove something from under his behind. His backpack had spilled out all its contents on the floor and he had landed on all of it.

"I'm okay," Marty said and then brought a broken black cap from under him. "Oh man I broke my hat!"

Doc took the item out of Marty's hands to see if it was fixable. He hadn't looked at it for two seconds before he realized that it wasn't a weird hat... it was a graduation cap. The scientist then looked at Marty, whom then broke into a big smile.

"I rushed over here to tell you guys that I'M GRADUATING!" Marty exclaimed and the rest of the Brown family got up from the table and congradulated him.

"All right Marty!" Verne cheered and slapped Marty a high five.

"Yes, good job completing your junior college studies," Jules said and shook Marty's hand (always the mature one.)

"This is wonderful, I'm going to bake you a cake," Clara said and hugged Marty. Marty thanked them and told them that Jennifer was graduating too and that they are all invited to come to the ceremony.

"You'll come right Doc?" Marty asked.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world Marty," Doc said and gave Marty a brief hug. "I promise."

After Marty recieved several more pats on the back and high fives, he headed back outside with the hoverboard. Jennifer was waiting outside for him with her own cap on her head. Marty flew up to her and circled around her making her giggle.

"Marty cut it out!" Jennifer said with a smile and Marty jumped off the hoverboard. He put the device into his backpack and started to walk back home with his girl. The two of them were really excited that they were going to graduate tomorrow. Even though Marty had always been able to reatain at least a B- average, he had been worried he would never get out of junior college. He had never worried about Jennifer, though. She had always been one of the best students in high school.

They walked up the sidewalk to Marty's house and saw that none of the cars were in the dirveway. His parents must have been at that book signing. Marty took out his key and unlocked the door and Jen and he entered.

"Can't wait for tommorrow Jen. Graduation's going to be a blast!" Marty said as they headed to his room.

Hill Valley, California

August 22, 1992

7:56 AM

Doc woke up after feeling a sloppy wet dog tongue lick the bottems of his feet. He sat up and was nearly tackled back down by a happy Einstein. The dog barked happily and licked his owner's face.

"Einstein, down boy!" Doc said and got out of the bed. Einstein circled the big bed and plopped down where Doc had been lying.

"Oh you just wanted to wake me up so you could have the warm covers," Doc said with a laugh and started for the stairs. He could hear Clara singing a tune from the kitchen and could smell blueberry waffles cooking. Doc decended down the stairs quietly and went over to his beloved wife. Clara yelped a little in surprise when she felt someone wrap her into a hug and she dropped her stirring spoon. She smiled when she saw it was her husband.

"Morning Emmett you slept in a little b-" Clara didn't finish her sentence because Doc planted a kiss on her lips. After he withdrew, Clara smiled at him and blushed a teeny bit.

"Well you're in a good mood today," Clara said and returned to her cooking.

"Of course I am Clara beau!" Doc replied happily as he took out some plates and forks. "Marty is graduating today and I added a new function to the DeLorean. It took most of last night to finish but I completed it! After breakfast I'm going to test it out."

"What's the new feature," Clara asked.

"It quiets the flux dispersal of the DeLorean and enables it to blast into another time without the sonic booms and creates a smoother ride," Doc explained and set the table. "Jules, Verne, time to ingest your morning substanance! Anywho Clara, this new feature will allow us to time travel without being heard by our already-suspicous neighbors. I'm going to test it today."

"Well alright but don't forget-" Clara began but Doc knew what she was going to say.

"I know, Marty's graduation," Doc said and sat down with his sons. "I promised him I'd be there and I won't forget."

As she scrubbed the waffle iron at the sink, Clara rolled her eyes.

After breakfast, Doc changed clothes and hurried off to his lab. He really wanted to see if this feature would actually work. Jules and Verne were following steadily behind him. Doc opened the door to the lab and went over to the DeLorean time machine. Of course you could not see the new feature on the outside of the car-turned-time machine. In fact, the new feature was just a small microchip in the DeLorean's hard drive.

"Boys I want to test this so where do you think we should travel to?" Doc asked. Jules turned to his brother to see if he would answer but Verne was entranced with his game boy at the moment. Jules even waved his hand in front of Verne's face, to no avail.

"Father I suggest Ancient Egypt," Jules said and pulled out his commonplace book. "I was in the library yesterday and took some notes from a book on Egypt. It sounds like a fascinating time to visit."

Doc turned to his younger son for his suggestion for a trip but Verne was still into his video game.

"Verny any propositions as to were and when we should travel?" Doc asked. Verne didn't even look up.

"Sorry but when Verne is playing that device he is in a hypnotised-like state," Jules said and even flicked the fake tail on his younger brother's coon skin cap. Verne didn't notice. "I know how to get him back into reality though," Jules continued and turned the game boy off.

"Hey!" Verne said with an annoyed look on his face. The boy blinked and looked around the lab. "What's going on?"

"Father wants to test a new feature on the time machine," Jules began. "He asked us for suggestions as to what time period to travel. I proposed ancient Egypt but you were to focused on your portable video game device to say anything."

"Any suggestions Verny?" Doc asked again.

"No ancient Egypt is cool with me," Verne said and climbed into the DeLorean with his brother. Doc got into the driver's seat, turned on the time circuits, and set them to the correct date from Jules' commonplace book.

_All right we will return to the future immediatly after I see that the feature worked. Then we will proceed onto Marty's graduation ceremony. _Doc thought. _Simple as physics. _

Marty looked at himself in the full-length bathroom mirror. The graduation gown he had recieved yesterday was just plain black and was a little long for him considering his height. But Marty was too happy to really care, so he just rolled up the sleeves and would ask his mom to hem it. Marty put the black cap on his head and pushed the little tail thing out of his face. He had managed to fix it himself and it looked as good as new.

With all the "grad stuff" on, Marty smiled at himself in the mirror. He couldn't wait until the ceremony.

Ancient Egypt

10:28

The DeLorean entered the destinated time period with barely a sound. Doc manuevered it out of the sky and onto the ground and caused practically no noise doing it. They parked behind a group of palms and stepped out of the time machine.

Ancient Egypt was vast and an unbelievable sight. They had arrived in the middle of great activity. Egyptians crowded around here and there with skin very tan from the hot sun. Pyramids were in the distance of the commotion and looked like they were just built a few weeks ago. The boys were staring at it all with awed expressions on their faces but their father had his attention on the DeLorean.

"Holy Marconi it worked!" Doc exclaimed happily. "All right boys we can head back home now."

"Aw dad come on!" Verne said as he looked at the Egyptians again. "Can't we stay for a little longer?"

"Yes father may we?" Jules asked. Doc rubbed the back of his neck where he felt a sunburn coming.

_Well this is a fascinating point in world history. _Doc thought. _This would also be a good chance to teach Jules and Verne about Egyptian history... wait, isn't there something I must remember? Yes! Marty's graduation. Hmmm... that doesn't start for an hour, I think. Blast I should have written it down. We'll just observe the Egyptians for a couple minutes and then return to 1992. _

"All right boys we can stay," Doc said and his sons grinned. "Though only for a couple of minutes."

Jules and Verne bolted toward the commotion followed closely by their father. Jules pointed out the pyramids and explained them to his younger sibling. Verne joked that it would be fun to cover the pyramid in snow and slide down the side. Suddenly a long line of well-dressed egyptians entered doing a dance that Verne immediatly recognized.

"Hey they're doing the egyptian!" Verne shouted. He started toward the dancing egyptians and joined in. The egyptians didn't seem to notice the extra dancer and continued on with their dancing.

"This is awesome come on Jules!" Verne said to his brother, whom started laughing as he ran over. Jules took awhile to catch up with the dance but soon he was doing it perfectly. The eleven-year-old turned to his father.

"Father this is quite fun!" Jules called to Doc. "Come partake."

"Yeah dad come dance," Verne said. Doc chuckled at his sons a little before finally joining in.

_This is enjoyable. _Doc thought. _Maybe we can try that basket weaving next... _

Doc and his sons decided to immerse themselves in Egyptian culture. They wove baskets, painted wooden horses, and even learned some hieyrogliphics. They were having a great time but Doc had forgotten something.

Something important.

Hill Valley, California

August 22, 1992

2:00 PM

"Emmett Lathrop Brown where in time are you," Clara said to herself as she watched the graduating class come up on stage. Her husband and the boys hadn't returned directly after their test drive and had not been back for a whole two hours. Of course Clara was more annoyed than angry. Doc had always let some things slip his mind but she didn't think his best friend's graduation would be one of them.

Clara felt someone tap her shoulder and turned around to see if it was Emmett. It was Lorraine, Marty's mother.

"This is exciting isn't it," Lorraine said with a smile. "George bought a new video camera just for this occasion."

"That's nice," Clara said but her mind was still on where her husband and sons could be. Lorraine seemed to detect how Clara was feeling.

"Hey where is your husband and boys?" Lorraine asked.

"Emmett has Jules and Verne with him but he's running late," Clara said. "I just hope he doesn't miss this."

"I certainly hope not," Lorraine agreed. "Marty really wants him to be here."

Both women turned their attention back to the stage where the college dean (Strictland) was preparing to speak.

"Attention!" Strictland yelled into the microphone and made everyone in the audience turn their heads. "We are going to start calling each graduate by their last name in alphabetical order. Abrahams!"

Clara glanced down the aisle for any sight of her husband. Maybe he would arrive just when Marty was called...maybe he won't. Clara bit her lip in anticipation as she watched graduate after graduate accept their diplomas and take a seat.

"McFly, Martin!" Strictland called and Clara heard Marty's family behind her cheer. But Marty didn't seem to be embarrased because he almost moonwalked over to get his diploma. The teen took it out of Strictland's hands and held it up over his head with a broad grin on his face. The crowd clapped like they did for everyone else. From her seat, Clara could see Marty's eyes scan the chairs for Doc. She watched the teen's face fall into a sad expression she had never seen on her face. He put down his arms and walked off the stage in a somewhat odd way. Behind Clara, George lowered his camera and quietly asked his wife what came over Marty.

"He missed it," Clara said to herself, took another look at Marty, and then suddenly felt very angry. Whenever Doc got back, she was going to let him know how much he disappointed his best friend.

The DeLorean returned back to the present and parked inside the lab. Doc emerged out of the time machine and with a whoop of hapiness. Jules and Verne got out too, each tuckered out from their great trip to the Egyptian time. Jules was lugging some smooth stones with a hierogliphic symbol on each of them. When they were experiencing ancient Egypt, Jules had filled amost half of his commonplace book with notes. Verne was wearing a head dress he had made himself.

"That was awesome," Verne said and yawned. "Thanks for taking us dad."

"Welcome Verny," Doc said as he emptied the sand out of his shoes. "Did you have a good time too Jules?"

"Yes," Jules said and headed out of the lab. "I'm going up to the tree fort to examine these stones."

"I'm coming too!" Verne said and started trailing after his older brother. Jules didn't seem to mind that much and didn't even roll his eyes or shoo his brother away. Doc watched his sons leave with a smile on his face. They had had a great time and Doc had a feeling that the boys took in alot of information about the Ancient Egyptain culture. Not to mention it was a good father-son activity too.

Doc was brought out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps coming toward the lab entrance. He turned around to see his beloved wife Clara standing there in a rather stiff manner. Nevertheless, Doc went up to her with his good mood.

"Greetings Clara boo!" Doc said cheerfully and pulled his dear wife into a hug. "I had an absolutely ellating time with Jules and Verne."

"Did you?" Clara said with a tone so frosty that it made Doc let go of her and step back. Clara's face was locked in a sonelike expression which meant only one thing: she was mad.

"Emmett Lathrop Brown do you know what you missed when you were joyriding through time?" Clara asked with her hands on her hips. Doc looked at her but didn't know the answer.

"Uh.." he stuttered.

"Marty's graduation," Clara answered and saw her husband's face drop in astonishment. "Yes you missed it after you _promised _Marty you would be there for him."

"Clara I-" Doc began but his wife didn't want to hear it.

"You should have seen the look on Marty's face when he saw you weren't there," Clara informed. "He's your _best friend _and he's done so much for you I would think that you would do this thing for him. You really diappointed him Emmett."

"I... I lost track of time," Doc said softly. "I'm sorry Clara."

"It is not me you need to apologize to," Clara said and with that she left the lab. Doc sat there awhile, thinking hard.

_Great scott I can't believe I let that slip my mind. _Doc thought. _Only one thing to do... _

Doc picked up the phone in the lab and dialed Marty's number.

Meanwhile, Marty was lying on his bed still dressed in his graduation gown. He had come home from the ceremony and went straight up to his bedroom without a word. His family was a little bewildered but didn't ask alot of questions. Even if they did, Marty didn't feel like answering.

As he lied on the bed, Marty tossed around a few guesses as to why Doc had missed his graduation but couldn't think of any good enough.

Marty shook his head and didn't want to continue to think. He stared up at the ceiling and knew that whatever happened, Doc would have a reason.

ring! ring! ring!

"Hello?" Marty said.

Doc waited for Marty to answer and hoped that the teen was home. Finally after three rings, someone picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Marty's voice said.

"Marty it's me Doc," Doc said and ran a hand through his white hair. "Listen I am terribly sorry I missed your graduation ceremony. I heard your father fabricated a video recording of it so it would be great if-"

"Where were you?" Marty asked.

"In Ancient Egypt," Doc said. "I was time traveling with Jules and Verne."

There was a long silence and Doc began to think that Marty had hung up.

"You _promised _to be there," Marty suddenly said and Doc could detect anger in his friend's voice.

"I know," Doc said softly. "I just lost track of time."

"I don't want to hear it Doc," Marty said. "You know you may be a scientist but you can be a real jerk sometimes."

Doc heard Marty hang up and a dial tone sound. The scientist sighed heavely and put down the phone. In all their years of friendship, Marty had never spoken to him that way. It actually made Doc feel hurt like he had been punched in the stomache.

Hill Valley, California

August 23, 1992

11:09 AM

"Blast it!" Doc yelled as he put his sore thumb in his mouth. He had been trying to fix the microwave all morning but couldn't really concentrate. Unfortunetaly that made him hit his thumb with his hammer which hurts more than it sounds.

The main reason Doc couldn't concentrate was because his mind kept wandering back to Marty and their unpleasant phone conversation yesterday. He couldn't help thinking about it after all since it was one of their few friend fights. Doc knew Marty was upset but everytime he thought back to it he felt more and more angry at the teen.

_There is nothing wrong with spending time with my sons! _Doc thought as he started taking apart the microwave. _And there is nothing wrong with making a mistake! I'm not perfect! Where does Marty get the nerve to speak to me in that manner? I am not a jerk! If anything that annoying adolescent is the jerk! I had no idea he could be so selfish!_

"Father?" a voice asked from behind him.

"WHAT!" Doc barked and turned to see his two sons at the entrance to the lab. They were looking at him with shocked and scared expressions. After all, their father had never yelled at them like that before.

Doc ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Sorry boys," Doc said as the boys walked timidly over to him. "I didn't mean to raise my vocal cords like that."

"It's okay pop," Verne said. They both knew about their father's fight with Marty and were informed by their mother that he would be a little "edgy." "We were just gonna ask if it would be okay to go over Josh's house."

"Sure go have fun," Doc said with a weak smile. Jules left to get his bike but Verne stayed put.

"Dad are you and Marty not friends anymore?" Verne asked.

"Maybe," Doc answered and quite fiddling with the microwave for a second. Verne moved closer to his father and wrapped his short arms around his father's waist. Doc appreciated the hug and patted his youngest son on the head. Verne let go of his father and went to go catch up with Jules.

Doc turned his attention back on the microwave and finally found the problem with it. The battery was dead (how could he have not figured that earlier?) so he put in a new one and carried the microwave back to the kitchen.

Clara was seated at the table eating a tuna fish sandwhich. She looked up when her husband entered the room.

"Thanks for fixing the microwave honey," Clara said after she swallowed a bit of her sandwhich. Her husband just gave a grunt and set the microwave back down on the counter. Then he went over to the fridge and searched it for something to eat.

"I can make you a sandwhich," Clara offered.

"No thank you Clara," Doc said as he took out just some orange juice. He fetched a glass out of the cupboard and sat down next to his wife, whom was looking at her husband with a conserned expression. She decided to just go on and say what she had been thinking.

"I think you and Marty should sit down, face to face, and talk," Clara stated. Doc was silent for a minute but then made eye contact with his wife.

"Marty and I will probably never cross paths again," Doc said. "He doesn't want to converse with me and I _certainly_ don't want to converse with him."

"But Emmett you two are the best of friends," Clara continued and touched her husband's shoulder. "You may have had a spat with him but that's no reason to never associate with him again. When Jules and Verne fight, I have them each talk about why they got angry and pretty soon the problem is resolved. You and Marty need to resolve your problem."

"There is no problem," Doc denied. "Marty is just acting like a brat because I missed his ceremony."

"Honestly Emmett... I think there may be more to Marty's feelings than you think," Clara said but Doc decided he didn't want to hear anymore. He abruptly stood up and stomped out of the kitchen and back to the lab. Clara watched him go but didn't say anything. Talking to Doc was useless when he was being stubborn. She knew he wouldn't go and talk to Marty by himself, at least not when he was angry. So maybe she could find a way to somehow bring those two together...

Later that day, Clara told her sons that they had to think of a way to get Emmett and Marty in the same room so they can talk. Jules and Verne were more than happy to help since they missed having Marty over and were concerned about their father. At 5:00 the three met in the parents' bedroom to come up with a plan.

"I have an idea!" Verne hollered. "We could call Marty to come over and yank dad out of the lab and keep them in a room so they have to talk."

"Good idea Verne," Jules said and tapped in his chin in thought. "But how would we go about doing that?"

"Listen up and I'll tell ya," Verne continued and took a deep breath. "Here's what we do..."

Marty sat at the foot of his bed trying to practise a new Pinheads song on his guitar. Trouble was, he couldn't concentrate and was in no mood to play to begin with. Marty sang the verses softly to himself but his mind would drift away from the music and onto Doc.

Why did Marty keep thinking about that scientist? The guy had blown him off to hang out in Ancient Egypt with Jules and Verne. The guy had missed his graduation after he had _promised_ to be there. Marty let these thoughts spin through his mind and got so angry he broke a string on his guitar.

"Perfect," Marty muttered as he looked at his guitar. Just then the phone rang and the teen picked it up attomatically.

"Don't want to talk now please call later," Marty said into the phone, thinking Jennifer was on the other line.

"Marty," Doc's voice said through the phone, the scientist's voice sounded kind of monotonous. Marty was tempted to slam the reciever down but didn't.

"What do you want?" Marty asked in a flat voice.

"To apologize," Doc said. "Would you come over?"

Marty thought hard about this before answering.

"Well... all right," the teen said and got off the bed. "I'll be there in a couple of minutes."

"Told ya it would work!" Verne said to his brother as he turned off his Talk Boy voice recorder. He had used the device to pose as his father in the call to Marty.

"Yes, Yes, you were correct," Jules admitted, even though he didn't want to. "Mother Marty agreed to come!"

Clara came into the kitchen with a few small tools in her hands. She handed them to Jules and told him to fix a lock on the door to the den. Verne was assigned to keep watch for Marty and to lead him into the den. Both boys saluated their mother like soldiers and Clara went her seperate way to commence her part in the plan.

She found Doc in the lab at his desk but he wasn't doing any work. He was just sitting there with his head resting on his folded arms. She approached quietly and gently touched his shoulder to bring him out of whatever thoughts he was thinking.

"Emmett," Clara said and Doc lifted his head up to look at her. She was staring at him with unfathomable look and her hand was still on his shoulder. He shook it off, hoping this would be a hint that he wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Marty is here to apologize," Clara said and prayed that her husband would believe this fib. Obviously he did because he got up and started following her to the house. Clara led him into the kitchen and then up the stairs to the den. Doc could hear Verne's voice telling Marty a joke but didn't hear the punchline. Clara opened the door for him but Doc didn't enter the room.

"Martin," Doc said flatly.

"Emmett," Marty said in return. They both crossed their arms and looked away from one another.

"Listen you two," Clara began as she pushed her husband into the den. "Stop acting like children and try and resove this problem! You know your friendship is too important to you both to just give up on." With that, Clara exited the room with her sons and locked the door behind them.

Marty and Doc stood facing each other for awhile before the scientist decided to break the silence.

"Clara said you came to apologize," Doc said.

"Me apologize? You called me over here to say _you're _sorry," Marty replied.

"I did no such thing...wait a nano second, Clara and the boys had something to do with this," Doc said and went over to the door. He tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge and he punched it in his frustration. Unfortunately the door was solid wood and his hand throbbed. Marty started snickering and Doc shot him an angry glance.

"She locked us in?" Marty said.

"Affirmitive," Doc said. _Of course she locked us in. _Doc thought. _Didn't he just see me struggle with the door! _

Marty and Doc stared at each other for a few minutes more and no one said anything.

"Are you gonna apologize or not?" Marty asked in a somewhat impatient voice.

"Why must I apologize?" Doc asked and felt his blood pressure rise. "_Your'e _the one who is acting like an infant!"

"I am not!" Marty shouted.

"Are to!" Doc shouted.

"Am not!"

"Are to!"

"Am not!"

Are t-" Doc began but realized this was stupid. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Maybe they should just stop argueing and talk. "Marty?"

"What," Marty spat.

"Why are you so angry at me?" Doc asked in a fairly conversational tone. Marty looked at him for a brief second before the teen answered.

"Because you missed my graduation," Marty answered. It was a vague answer and Doc decided to go a little deeper.

"Yes but _why _did that make you angry?" Doc asked. "I've missed some concerts of yours in the past but you never acted like this before."

"Because..." Marty stopped and sat down in one of the den's armchairs. He breathed a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. Doc knew that Marty did this when he was either stressed or about to get something off of his chest.

"Because... it made me feel unimportant," Marty began and looked at Doc. "You can spend all of your time with Jules and Verne and I thought this one time you could come to one of my things. It just made me lose my temper."

Doc was surprised at this revelation and looked at Marty incredulously.

"Are you saying you're jealous of Jules and Verne?" Doc asked and saw Marty's cheeks turn slightly scarlet.

"I didn't want to say it," Marty said. "But yeah. I've been feeling kind of left out whenever you and Clara, Jules, and Verne go off in the time machines. Don't get me wrong, Doc, I'm really happy that you found a girl and had a family. I just didn't want to say anything before now because I thought I was being selfish."

"Jumping jigowatts Marty I never knew you felt that way," Doc said and suddenly felt incredibly bad. "I'm glad you told me, I'm sorry."

"Thanks," Marty said. "And I'm sorry for calling you a jerk."

Suddenly they both heard the door unlatch and Clara and the boys peeked into the room.

"Is everything all right?" Clara asked.

"Yes everything is back to normalacy," Doc said and glanced at Marty. "Care to help me with cooling system of the time train?"

"Sure Doc," Marty said with a smile.

_Clara is correct. _Doc thought. _Our friendship is too strong for such trivial fights. _

END


End file.
